Railway safety appliance



E. E. BEERS.

RAILWAY SAFETY APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 21, I920. 99 0 Patented Dec. 6, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- E. E. BEERS. RAILWAY SAFETY APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED 0CT.21,1920.

Patented. Dec. 6, 1921..

\Z22SHEET HEET 2.

EARL E. BEERS, OF LAKEHUBST, NEW JERSEY.

RAILWAY SAFETY APPLIANCE.

Specification of LetterslPatent.

Patented Dec. 6, 1921.

Application filed October 21,1920. Serial No. 418,428.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EARL E. Burns, a citi- Zen of the United States of America, residing at Lakehurst, in the county of Ocean and State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railway Safety Appliances, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the invention is to provide simple and eificient means for effecting the application of brakes as through the ordinary air brake apparatus to a train when the semaphore signal has been set against the train, in the event that the engineer through negligence or inability to see or understand the signal has failed to observe the same and reduce the speed of his train, with the ultimate obvious purpose of avoiding the wrecking of trains incident to such accidents or oversights, and more especially to provide an apparatus for this purpose which may be installed and maintained at a minimum cost and which will have the advantages of certainty of operation with the minimum likelihood of interference by reason of climatic conditions; and to this end the invention consists in the construction and combination of parts of which a preferred embodiment is shown in the drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side view of the apparatus applied in the operative position to a road bed and the locomotive representing the rolling stock.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the track mechamsm.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the train mechanism. 7

Fig. 4 is a side view of the latter.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the plunger and valve which is associated with the train mechanism.

Fig. 6 is a detail in perspective of the trip.

The mechanism consists essentially of a relief valve mechanism having a casing 10 in communication by means of a pipe 11 with the air brake train pipe 12 and inclosing a valve 13 normally held seated and controlling vents or outlets to the atmosphere as shown at 14, together with a plunger 15 for unseating the valve under danger conditions to permit of reduction of the train pipe pressure and therefore the application of the brakes, in connection with a trip mechanism 16 arranged in the road bed in the path ofthe lower extremity of the plunger 15 and adapted to be set in position to actuate said plunger by means of the semaphore 17 or similar road side signaling device, such as may be prescribed or approved by the railroad company.

In the construction illustrated the trip consists of 'a bow spring bar 18 adapted normally to keep a substantially flat position where it is out of the path of movement of the lower projecting end or tappet element 19 of the plunger 15 and secured at one end as indicated at 20 to a tie or equivalent support, and a bell-crank lever 21 connected by suitable rods 22 and if necessary an auxiliary bell-crank 23 with the semaphore arm 17, said bell-crank lever 21 being connected by a link 24 with the other end of the bow spring to the end that when the semaphore arm is set at caution or danger, or is arranged in any other position than that indicating safety, the bell-crank lever 21 will be moved to bow the spring 18 so as to produce a double inclined tread or ramp in the path of the tappet 19 so as to be engaged by the latter as the train passes the same to impel the plunger upwardly in opposition to the spring 25 and thus unseat the valve 13 to permit of reduction of train pipe pressure. The valve is preferably of the piston type and its stem 26 connected with the plunger is movable in opposition to the spring 25 which serves to maintain the plunger in its extended position against accidental displacement by the vibration of the train, and arranged in operative relation with the plunger are looking sprin s 27 adapted for terminal engagement wit shoulders 28 on the plunger to hold the latter in its elevated or valve ununseating position when moved upward by engagement with the bow spring which has been set to perform the function of the ramp. The retention of the plunger in its elevated position obviously retains the valve in its unseated position so that sufiicient reduction of train pipe pressure is insured to bring the train to a full stop.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and useful is:

A safety appliance for railway trains having a relief valve for normally retaining train pipe pressure and the plunger in operative relation to the valve and having a tappet member depending toward the road bed, and a ramp consisting of a bow spring having one terminal secured to the road bed, a bell-crank lever disposed below the spring of the signal may serve to bend the spring to raise the central member of the latter for engagement with the tappet member of the 10 relief valve.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

EARL E. BEERS. 

